Have you read this book?

It happened today. My neighbors are awesome, they’re a Mormon family that have fed me, invited me to church events, etc. Today at ‘umu (dinner), the Mother of the family gave me a beautiful piece of Tapa (a Tongan craft) to take to America with me, and…The Book of Mormon. It happened today. For over a year, I have expected some attempt to draw me into the Mormon flock, and no real advances have been made, so I haven’t expected it for a while. But it happened today, and I thanked her and she immediately said, “Don’t throw it away.” I guess they have the same recruitment issues here too…
I didn’t throw it away, and I’m not going to, I don’t throw away anything representing a faith. One: if I do, and they’re the ones that end up being right, I really don’t want that kind of strike against me when I meet the maker. Two: it’s just plain disrespectful; just because I don’t agree with a religion doesn’t mean I have to be destructive. Three: I wanted to read through it a bit to make sure I’m not missing something key about Mormonism that I may actually be able to relate to. (I’ve confirmed that there is not)
So I have in my possession now a crisp, clean, brand new Book of Mormon, and have no idea what to do with it. Like I said I’m not going to throw it away, rip it up, burn it, or maim it in any way (so don’t send such suggestions, and you should go pray for yourself for thinking such things.) And I can’t really give it to someone…because I don’t want to technically promote a religion I don’t believe in. What a pickle.
Maybe I should keep it…yes, keep it always, because it may come in handy one day when I have dreadful house guests or something of the like. I can go to the bookshelf and say, “Have you heard of this book?” And said house guests will either leave immediately or choose not to come back, or both. Then it truly would be the “Good Book.” That was a joke of course, I would never do that…one it’s wrong morally, and two, if the same fictional people were to be interested in The Book of Mormon, I’d look like a jackass. No, I probably don’t need to keep the book.
Also, my neighbor will probably be expecting to see it now whenever I go to the Mormon service…nut balls. Well, I’ll just have to keep it and take it to the services I go to and figure out what to do with it later. It’s so hard to talk religion with people from my village. It’s not a good idea to try to explain that I didn’t belong to a church in the states to a community where everyone goes to church, because that’s what you do, and if you don’t…well take my word for it, it’s just easier to go. So far I’ve been able to get by with the vague answer of “a Christian church” when I’m asked where I went to church in the States. Admitting that I don’t have a church, or really belong to a religion at all is something I don’t have the energy to get into here, so I lie, which to me is worse. I wish I could explain, and really convey to everyone who doesn’t know Tonga what it can be like living in a conservative village, where you feel obliged to lie about yourself.
And I’m sorry the Mormons have gotten picked on in this story. But lots of people get picked on in my stories. It’s not that I don’t like Mormons; I’ve known plenty since coming here and knew a couple of families in past, very nice people, nicer than a lot of other people who call themselves ‘religious.’ I appreciate nice people. But also, like many other religions out there, there’s a lot about their story that has a lot of pot holes that I don’t understand and don’t agree with.
I have faith in a higher power, and one day maybe I’ll find a way to celebrate that faith through a church of some kind. But for me, that’s not going to come through someone trying to recruit me or sell me on a church, or even me trying to adopt a religion because I’m afraid of not being a part of something. Faith comes to an individual, it comes in different ways, and that’s probably one reason why there are so many. That’s also why I’m not convinced that there is one out of all that is meant to be the winner of the ultimate ball game.